My one and only car since I was 15. As of this week, it's been wanting to die while driving. One day it cut off and rolled to a stop and wouldn't start back for 30 min. A few days ago as I was driving down the highway it started to want to die and would lose power then jump and jerk back to life (while going 60mph) about 10 times very quickly. I down shifted to 3rd to keep it alive. Worked itself out and was fine for the rest of the day. Tonight on the way home I felt it was trying to die again while on the highway and put in the clutch and gave it more gas a few times and kept it from doing the hard jerky thing it did the last time.

Yesterday I replaced all the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor button. Noticed some oil on the two plugs closest to the firewall (not in the plugs, just around the part that is above the threads. Ordered new valve cover gaskets.

What could be causing it to want to die and loose power occasionally? I'm assuming fuel at this point, but I don't want to just throw parts at it before I do more research... Thanks!

 

oil wouldnt do that. i would think fuel also, what type of pump do those have?

 

i had a very similar issue on my '00 S10..turned out to be a failing fuel pump-gettin overheated, would work again when allowed to cool a bit, then repeat...and it came on suddenly, wasnt an increasing subtle stalling and kept getting worse the more I drove it after that...not saying this is your cause, but at least something to look at

 

When you run with the fuel tank very low, the pump will tend to overheat and after time will cause you problems till it finally fails. This may not be your problem but it something to check out.

 

some auto parts stores will lend u a fuel press test kit( I believe Auto Zone is one)..yes, u pay for the kit to borrow it, but get yer $$ back when returned. there is a test port located next to the dist cap (at least on 4.L v-6's) that the kit can attach to..u can then Temp snake the gage n tubing out from a closed hood, duct tape to yer windshield, then observe any press losses when the vehicle starts to stumble again...at least then u will know FOR sure if the stumblin is a fuel issue or not.

 

My 85 Nissan had similar problem of intermittent cut out. Felt as sudden as turning the key off & on quickly. Turned out to be failing solder joints on one corner the computer board. I could reproduce the problem by wiggling certain board components. I re-touched all solder joints on the board and the problem has been gone for years now. FYI thought it was the fuel pump and replaced that before figuring out the real problem. Continues to be my daily driver. How many miles on your old friend & how long have you been the owner?